Card-index locking device.



No, 727,186. PATENTED MAY 5, 190,3. c. MUEIKE. f DEED INDEX LOCKING'DEVICE.

APPLIOATIONYFILED AUG. 19, 1899. RENBWED PEB. 24. 1903'.

lo MODEL.

and lock and to disengage or release the cards UNITED STATES PatentedMay 5, 193.

PAT-*ENT QFFICR.

CURTIS MORIRE, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIs/AssIGNOR TO. IupCKw'nLL AND RUPELCOMPANY, OF CHICAGO, ILLINOIs,A CORPORATION on ILLINOIS.

CARD-IN D E'x LooKlNq DEVICE.

SPECIFICATION forming' part of Letters Pte'int N0.'727,186, dated May 5,1903. Application filed August 19, 1899. Renewed February 24:, 1903;Serial No. 144,826. (No model.)

.To all 'whom it may concern:

Beit known that I, CURTIS MCPIKE, of Chi-' cago, in the county of Cookand State of Illi-A nois, have invented certain new and usefulImprovements in Card-Index Locking Devices, of which the following is aspecification.

My invention relates to the provision ofa card-index wit-h means'whereby the cards may be inserted, locked, released, and re' moved orshifted as to position quickly and by simple manipulations. To this endI pro-V vide the cardswith slots in one edge` thereof or with suitableprojections from such edge. In the tray or drawer intended to hold thecards I mount two rods or bars upon journals supported in theend wallsof the tray or drawer or in plates afxed thereto, said rods or barsbeing so disposed with relation to each other and to the cards and ofsuch form as to interlook with the shoulders'formed by the slots thereinor the projections therefrom. I also provide suitable means forrocking'said rods or bars upontheir journals, so as. to engageaccordingly as the rods or bars are placed in one position or the other.

My invention may be embodied in a variety of forms of construction, thepreferred construction and several modifications there of as to the formof the card and of the locking bars or rods being shown in the drawings,in. whiohg- Figure 1 is a broken perspective view of the tray ordrawerhaving mounted therein the Card-locking mechanism, one of thecards and a follower-block therefor being shown. Fig. 2 is a sectionalelevation of the locking rods or bars and of the means for rocking them.Fig. 3 is a side elevation of the locking-bars broken away, showing thelocking mechanism in edge View, partly in section. Fig. t is anelevation of a sliding platel slotted to receive the bars and having atongue or wedge to1 separate them. Fig. 5 shows the bars in.cross-section closed and a fragment Of` a card having a T- shaped notchtherein. Fig. 6 is a plan view of the ends of the bars, showing theirjournals and apertures to receive the wedge of the sliding plate. Figs.7, 8, and 9 show three modicatinos, Fig. 7 showing a card with a T-shaped projection and bars adapted to engage therewith, Fig. 8 showing aprojection having a rounded end or eXtremity,*and Fig. 9v a cardfwithcrescent-shaped slots providing between them a projection `rounded uponits upper surface with bars for engaging the same.

In the'drawings, 10 represents the tray or drawer ofany convenient formorsize and usuallyprovided in its bottom with a longi- -tudinal recess,as shown at 11, to-receive a rod 12,011 which is mounted a slidingfollower-block' 13. I have shown aflixed to the Vrear end wall of thetray a plate 14 and to the front end wall a plate 15, and in said platesthe rod 12 may be secured.

The preferred construction of locking-rods is shown inFigs. l to 5,inclusive, said rods being flat orin the form of thinbars, preferably ofmet-al and rounded upon their corners. Said rods are marked-16 17 andare provided at their ends mear' their adjacent edges with journals 1819, whichrest within suitable .recesses -or apertures inthe end plates'1415.' At their front'ends 'these rods have their adjacent edgesnotched, as shown at 20, to providean" aperture to receive an operatingor Vopening wedge hereinafter described, ,."Obviously the journals 1819might be extended through the end wall of the case forrocking thebars, or the bars might be turned by hand. I prefer, how- 'ever,`toprovide means for moving thebars into the lockingy and releasingpositions, and the preferred means comprise a sliding plate 21, mountedto slide in ways-formed by the angle-plates 22. The plate 2l is notchedin its lower edge,the notch expande'ldand widening upwardly andoutwardlyv to provide the operating-shoulders 23, which are just wideenoughjapartto admit-.the rbars 16 1 Zw,hen the latter are turnededgewi'se or intov'ertical position and' lie'in contact, said..shoulders serving to maintain the barsin su'chposition. The slidingplatelmaybeoperatedin any convenient manner, but is shown as providedwith a stud 24, riding in a cam-slot 25 of a disk or cam-plate 26, saidcam-plate being mounted to turn with a stem or short shaft 27, extendingthrough the end wall of the tray and provided with an operating-knob 28.

When theknob is turned, the cam-plate will cause a reci procation of thesliding platel 21. If the bars be turned up, as shown in Fig. 4, and thecam-plate be turned in a direction to lower the sliding plate 21, thewedge-shaped point 21n will enter between said bars, separating theirupper edges, and as the plate further descends said edges will come incontact with the curved walls of the slot, thus turning said bars intothe position shown in Figs. 2, 3, and 6. When the knob is turned in theopposite direction, the sliding plate will be raised and the shoulders23, which inthe downward movement of the plate have passed 4below theplane of the bars, will engage and turn them into the upright orvertical position.

For the purpose of covering the cam-plate and the operating mechanismconnected therewith a block 29, triangular in cross-section and recessedupon its front side,as shown at 30, may be employed, being suitably apertured to permit the operation of the lockingbars. The follower 13 willalso be similarly apertured, as shown at 13, not only to permit theoperation of the bars, but of its bein g moved forward and back toholdthe cards in the upright position.

The cards will be of any desired or usual construction, except that forthe purpose of my invention they are provided with slots or projectionsfor engagement with the lockingbars. The card marked 3l (shown in Figs.l and is provided in its lower edge with a T-shaped notch 32, thenarrowest part of which is adapted to receive the bars 16 17 when thelatter are turned into a vertical po- Fig. 8 I have shown aslightly-modified construction, wherein the card is provided with aprojection 35, rounded at its extremity instead of T--shaped, with bars36 slightly curved transversely instead of L-shaped.

vaase Fig. 9 I have shown the card provided with rentering slots orapertures 37, said slots eX- tending toward each other and providing thesemidetached projection 38, which is engaged -by bars 39 of appropriateform. In these several modifications it will be understood that thelocking-bars are journaled so as to be rocked or turned to engage orrelease the cards and that they may be operated by means similar tothose previously described or by any other adequate means.

When the cards are provided with projections, the locking-bars willpreferably be arranged Within the groove or longitudinal recess in thebottom of the tray or drawer, and the locking projections will extendbelow the plane of the opening of this groove.- This construction hasone desirable feature in that there are no parts projecting above thesurface of the bottom of the box, and therefore articles, such asenvelops, having straight or unsevered edges may be filed between theindex-cards.

By reference to Figs. 1, 2, and 3 it will be seen that the cam-plate 26has that portion outside of the cam-slot gradually widening toward theends, so that the bars, both in the locked and unlocked positions, arevengaged by the edge of the cam-plate and are thus thereby locked in suchpositions. The camslot is sufficiently extended to permit the cam-platebeing turned sufficiently to frictionally lock the bars after they arebrought to their extreme positions.

I claim- In a locking device for a'card-index, the

